Potential of bagasse obtained using hydrothermal liquefaction pre-treatment as a natural emulsifier

Bagasse, a by-product from raw sugar factories, is conventionally burned for energy production. In this study, bagasse extracts from hydrothermal liquefaction (HTL) treatment (160 °C, 1 MPa and 30 min) with a carbohydrate content of 510.3 mg g⁻¹ and 0.5 mg g⁻¹ of total phenols were applied as emulsifiers in oil-in-water (O/W) emulsions. Bagasse extracts from HTL (0.5–4 wt%) lowered the interfacial tension between oil–water interphase from 19.8 to 14.0 mN m⁻¹, owing possibly to the surface-active hydrophilic carbohydrate-hydrophobic lignin complexes in the extracts (lignin content: 7.1% w/w). Emulsions stabilised by bagasse extracts from HTL with average droplet size, d_av of 0.79 μm were comparable with gum arabic (GA), d_av of 2.24 μm after 11 days at 25 °C. Bagasse extracts containing biopolymers have the potential for industrial applications involving emulsion systems; therefore, HTL treatment of bagasse without any solvents can be regarded as an effective tool for producing natural emulsifiers.     

Impact of competitive strategy and cost-focus on global supplier switching (reshore and relocation) decisions

This study analyzes how global supplier switching decisions (reshore and relocate) are influenced by the buyers’ cost-focus and competitive strategies. Comprehensive survey data were gathered from US textile and apparel industry. The analysis revealed that the buyers with distinct competitive strategies such as Made-in-USA, speed-to-market are likely to have significantly higher proportions of reshoring activities. Furthermore, large companies and retailers are shown to be more cost-focused than small and manufacturing companies, respectively. Finally, cost-focused companies are shown to be more likely to switch their international suppliers. By analyzing the buyer side of supplier-switching and identifying the common features of companies engaging in reshoring or relocation, our analysis enables us to better interpret international supplier-switching. While other studies have regarded the superior performance of the prospective supplier or the external issues as the main factors, we emphasize the impact of internal dynamics of buyers on the international supplier-switching processes.     

The fluorescence resonance energy transfer between dye compounds in micellar media

The fluorescence resonance energy transfer from fluorescein to merocyanine 540 in aqueous sodium dodecyl sulfate, cetyltrimethylammonium bromide and Triton X-100 micellar solutions as well as deionized water was investigated at room temperature using steady-state and time-resolved fluorescence spectroscopy techniques. Fluorescence resonance energy transfer rate constants (k_T), obtained using both Stern–Volmer and Förster theories, were in good agreement. Moreover, energy transfer efficiency values of 0.14, 0.38, 0.77 and 0.85 for deionized water, sodium dodecyl sulfate, TX-100 and cetyltrimethylammonium bromide micellar solution were obtained at the highest acceptor concentration at which fluorescence resonance energy transfer was achieved. The data obtained from steady-state absorption, fluorescence spectral studies and time-resolved lifetime measurements indicated that the fluorescence resonance energy transfer from fluorescein to merocyanine 540 occurred most effectively in aqueous cetyltrimethylammonium bromide micellar solutions.     

Water-, oil-, and soil-repellent treatment of textiles,artificial leather,and leather

Several products are on the market to realize water-, oil-, and soil-repellent properties on textiles or textile-related materials. To make an adequate and fast rating of repellent properties of finished textiles, different drop tests according to AATCC and ISO standards are commonly used. For evaluation of the repellent properties of solid substrates against different liquids often contact angle measurements are performed. The aim of the work presented here is to determine and evaluate the repellent effects gained by the application of three different finishing agents on three different substrates, such as polyester fabric, artificial leather, and leather. The main questions are at that point: It is possible to gain similar repellent effects with the same finishing product applied on different substrates? Do the different testing methods lead to comparable results? Is there a relation to the repellency against everyday consumer products as red wine, ice tea, or coffee? This article should help the reader to evaluate different testing methods and the influence on common substrates.     

Application of graphene-based adsorbents in the treatment of dye-contaminated wastewater; kinetic and isotherm studies

The adsorption of methylene blue (MB) on graphene-based adsorbents was tested through the batch experimental method. Two types of graphene-based adsorbents as graphene oxide (GO) and reduced graphene oxide (RGO) were compared to investigate the best adsorbent for MB removal. So that optimizing the MB removal for the selected type of graphene-based adsorbent, the diverse experimental factors, as pH (2–10), contact time (0–1440 min), adsorbent dosage (0.5–2 g/L), and initial MB concentration (25–400 mg/L) were analyzed. The conclusions indicated that the MB removal rised with an increase in the initial concentration of the MB and so rises in the amount of adsorbent used and initial pH. Maximum dye removal was calculated as 99.11% at optimal conditions after 240 min. Adsorption data were compiled by the Langmuir isotherm (R²: 0.999) and pseudo-second-order kinetic models (R²: 0.999). The Langmuir isotherm model accepted that the homogeneous surface of the GO adsorbent covering with a single layer. And the adsorption energy was calculated as 9.38 kJ mol⁻¹ according to the D-R model indicating the chemical adsorption occurred. The results show that GO could be utilized for the treatment of dye-contaminated aqueous solutions effectively.     

Phoneme class based feature adaptation for mismatch acoustic modeling and recognition of distant noisy speech

Distant speech capture in lecture halls and auditoriums offers unique challenges in algorithm development for automatic speech recognition. In this study, a new adaptation strategy for distant noisy speech is created by the means of phoneme classes. Unlike previous approaches which adapt the acoustic model to the features, the proposed phoneme-class based feature adaptation (PCBFA) strategy adapts the distant data features to the present acoustic model which was previously trained on close microphone speech. The essence of PCBFA is to create a transformation strategy which makes the distributions of phoneme-classes of distant noisy speech similar to those of a close talk microphone acoustic model in a multidimensional MFCC space. To achieve this task, phoneme-classes of distant noisy speech are recognized via artificial neural networks. PCBFA is the adaptation of features rather than adaptation of acoustic models. The main idea behind PCBFA is illustrated via conventional Gaussian mixture model–Hidden Markov model (GMM–HMM) although it can be extended to new structures in automatic speech recognition (ASR). The new adapted features together with the new and improved acoustic models produced by PCBFA are shown to outperform those created only by acoustic model adaptations for ASR and keyword spotting. PCBFA offers a new powerful understanding in acoustic-modeling of distant speech.     

Acid leaching of coal and coal-ashes

Twelve Turkish lignites and the corresponding ashes were leached in sulfuric acid (pH 1.0, 25 °C) for 14 days. Asphaltite from Silopi amended the coals. The conditions mimic treatment in the effluent from bioleaching of sulfidic mineral concentrates, but the results are equally valid for an isolated leaching process. The extended time meant that we approached equilibrium and maximum extraction.The coals have limited neutralizing capacity. H₂SO₄ (1.0-2.0 l, 1 M) was needed to stabilize 1 kg coal at pH 1.0 (liquid:solid ratio 10:1), but the coal-ashes required 18.0-24.0 l/kg dry solid, which is the neutralizing equivalent to CaO.Leaching of dominant inorganic phases consume acid, but our interest is merely to remove trace elements present as dopants. We removed large fractions of Mg and Mn, but Al, K and Na extractions were limited by the presence of stable minerals and bimetallic oxides. The formation of the latter is driven by combustion at high temperatures. Alumina, normally not stable at pH 1.0, was protected from the effluent by the organic phase in coal. Fe leaching varied and appeared to be a marker for different chemical occurrences in the solids.Cd, V, Zn, U and Th were leached to near 80% from the ashes, but considerably less from the coals. Co and Ni extractions were near 60%, but not always higher from the ashes compared with the coals. Cu yields increase following ashing and reached ca. 60%. Ti, Ba, and Cs were not leached.We suggest that direct acid leaching is of interest to limit the deleterious impact of ash deposits and to recirculate metals from the ash. Ash may partly replace limestone in hydrometallurgical processing, but, more importantly, metal ions extracted from ash may be fed into the metal recovery stages of such processes. It is particularly interesting to leach Co, Cu, Ni and Zn, besides Mn, V and the environmentally hazardous Cd, U and Th. Leaching of whole coals is well motivated for domestic use-lump sizes around 18-50 mm, or slightly smaller, 10 mm, if mandated by practical residence times—where generally no other measures are taken to protect the local environment.     

A multiple objective stochastic portfolio selection problem with random Beta

When selecting a portfolio, we need to consider, in general, the portfolio return and portfolio risk. Many risk measures have been used in portfolio selection problems as the Beta risk measure, introduced by the capital asset pricing model. Most of the existing research papers suppose that security's Beta has a deterministic value. Recently, many researchers argued that in selecting the optimal portfolio, securities’ Beta should be considered as an uncertain parameter. In this paper, we set up fundamentals to model the portfolio's Beta as a random variable and propose a multiple objective stochastic portfolio selection model with random Beta. To solve the proposed model, we apply a stochastic goal programming approach. A numerical example from the US stock exchange market is reported.     

A novel method for production of activated carbon from waste tea by chemical activation with microwave energy

This study presents the production of activated carbon from waste tea. Activated carbons were prepared by phosphoric acid activation with and without microwave treatment and carbonisation of the waste tea under nitrogen atmosphere at various temperatures and different phosphoric acid/precursor impregnation ratios. The surface properties of the activated carbons were investigated by elemental analysis, BET surface area, SEM, FTIR. Prior to heat treatment conducted in a furnace, the mixture of the waste tea and H₃PO₄ was treated with microwave heating. The maximum BET surface area was 1157 m²/g for the sample treated with microwave energy and then carbonised at 350 °C. In case of application of conventional method, the BET surface area of the resultant material was 928.8 m²/g using the same precursor and conditions. According to the Dubinin–Radushkevich (DR) method the micropore surface area for the sample treated with microwave energy was higher than the sample obtained from the conventional method. Results show that microwave heating reasonably influenced the micropore surface area of the samples as well as the BET surface area.The samples activated were also characterised in terms of the cumulative pore and micropore volumes according to the BJH, DR and t-methods, respectively.     

Gel casting of mullite for radome applications

Gel-casting method was used to fabricate mullite ceramics because this method has not been applied to fabricate dense mullite in literature. Gel-casting parameters such as monomer types (acrylamide and metyhlenebisacrylamide), effect of initiator (ammonium persulfate), and catalyst (tetramethylenediamine) were studied. All samples reached to relative densities of 97% to 98.2% after sintering at 1540°C for 2 hours. Backscattered SEM images revealed anisotropically grown mullite grains, glassy phase located at triple junctions, hexagonally-shaped and faceted Al₂O₃ grains, and white-color grains consisting of ZrO₂ and undissolved TiO₂. A Weibull modulus of 12.33 (ie, indicating tough ceramics) and characteristic strength of 186 MPa were calculated, below which no failure was expected. A critical quenching temperature was found as about 400°C (ΔT ~ 380°C) by indentation-quench method. In addition, a thermal shock resistance parameter (eg, R in °C) of 142.4°C was calculated, which was higher than commonly used Al₂O₃ ceramics. Lower dielectric constant and loss are desired for wide frequency band application and shorter signal transmission delay time in radomes. The dielectric constant was found as nearly 7.5 up to 10 GHz and loss tangent was 0.0031 at 5 MHz. Dielectric and thermomechanical results suggest that mullite is a suitable candidate ceramic for radome applications.